Rocket eruca sativa mill brassicaceae

And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

FIGURE 1.45 Rocket (Eruca sativa).

One of them went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of pottage, not knowing what they were. And they poured out for the men to eat. But while they were eating of the pottage, they cried out, "O man of God, there is death in the pot!" And they could not eat it. He said, "Then bring meal." And he threw it into the pot, and said, "Pour out for the men, that they may eat." And there was no harm in the pot.

Accordingly a certain one went out to the field to pick mallows, and he got to find a wild vine and went picking wild gourds from it, his garment full, and then came and sliced them into the stew-pot, for they were not acquainted with them. Later, they poured it out for the men to eat. And it came about, as soon as they ate from the stew, they themselves cried out and began saying, "There is death in the pot!, O man of the [true] God." So he said "FETCH then, flour. After he threw it into the pot, he went on to say, "Pour out for the people, that they may eat." And nothing injurious proved to be in the pot.

It seems that all my versions agree that edible herbs or mallows were gathered in the field. But something poisoned the pottage, perhaps corrected by the addition of flour. I have not seen any speculation on the wild gourd, but cucurbitacins in wild gourds could foul an edible green soup. Whether or not flour or meal would correct that problem, I do not know. Yes, some scientists agree that this is the garden vegetable mentioned in the Bible (Kings II 4:39-40) as "Oroth." Zohary notes that the word oroth is mentioned as a plant only once, in the quote above. Referring to the Gilgal area in the Jordan Valley, where the garden rocket (arabic jarjir) still occurs today, Bedouins collect it as potherb or salad. Since oroth also appears as gargir in the Talmud, it is plausible to identify it with the rocket. Oroth may not necessarily be a specific potherb, but the Aramaic translation as "vegetables" in the RSV may well be correct. This is supported by the biblical verb aroh meaning "to collect, pick, gather" (ZOH). Rabbi Yohanan tells us that Oroth clears the eyes (Talmud, 3rd century). "Both Dioscorides and Galen recommended eating seeds for increasing semen production." ZOH ".. .In the Talmud and in the Rabbinical literature of the tenth century of Irak al-Qazwine of the thirteenth century indicated that eating seeds with honey will stimulate sexual desire." ZOH ".The Jewish Mishnah mention(s) that Rocket was used as a pepper substitute. The seeds were crushed and the paste was used to flavor meat." ZOH

Greens widely eaten, raw in salads or cooked. The Jewish Mishnah mentions that rocket was used as a pepper substitute. Crushed seeds were used to flavor meat. Rocket was used "in the Holy Land during the Hellenistic period," as a spice, a food, and a medicine. Mohammedens add the rocket juice to sour pomegranates to make them sweet (NAD; EB52:394).

Barillari et al. (2005) note that rocket is mentioned in traditional pharmacopoeia and ancient literature for several therapeutic properties, and contains several health-promoting agents (e.g., carot-enoids, vitamin C, fibers, flavonoids, and glucosinolates). The latter gained attention as precursors of isothiocyanates, potent inducers of phase-II detoxication process, important in the detoxification of electrophiles, and protection against oxidative stress. The major glucosinolate in rocket seeds is glucoerucin, (circa 100-110 pM/ g ZMB) representing 95% of total glucosinolates. Glu-coerucin is sometimes converted into sulforaphane, the most effective inducer of phase-II enzymes (X15796582). Eruca is the namesake of erucic acid, with some good and some bad activities. Erucic and oleic acids are constituents of the cinematic Lorenzo's oil, which led to complete normalization of plasma levels of saturated very-long-chain fatty acids. If given early enough to those genetically targeted, it may help; however, the oil has no substantial effect on childhood adrenoleukodystrophy once neurologic symptoms develop. The oil's erucic acid content varies from 33% to 47%, eicose-noic acid (C 20:1) from 7.3% to 9.8%. (EB52:394), and oleic acid circa 28% (HHB).

And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight.

Exodus 30:34 (KJV)

And the LORD said to Moses, "Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part).

Exodus 30:34 (RSV)

And Jehovah went on to say to Moses, "Take to yourself perfumes; stacte drops and onycha, and perfumed galbanum, and pure frankincense. There should be the same portion of each."

Exodus 30:34 (NWT)

Galbanum was an ingredient in the incense burned at the golden altar in the Holy Place, consistently with stacte and onycha and frankincense. Recent authorities maintain that "incense" used in the Tabernacle services was a mixture, in definite proportions, of frankincense, galbanum (Ferula gumosa), onycha (Styrax benzoin), and stacte (Styrax officinalis). Use of any incense not composed of these four ingredients (in the proper proportions) was strictly forbidden. The galbanum is a fetid yellowish gum resin, containing a chemical substance called umbelliferone. The gum is collected by cutting the young stem a few inches above the ground. A milky juice flows out and soon hardens. Today it is used in the manufacture of varnish. Galbanum oils and resinoids are used as fragrance components in lotions, perfumes, and soaps. Galbanum's popularity has expanded because of the "herbaceous-green" odored personal care products on the market. Extracts of galbanum have preservative and antimicrobial properties. Aqueous, hydroalcoholic, and chloroform extracts are all antiseptic.

Galbanum oils and resinoids are used as flavor components in many foods, including non-alcoholic beverages, baked goods, candies, condiments, gelatins, puddings, relishes; the oil is used in meats and gravies (BIB). 0.3-1 g resin (HHB).

• Lebanese use imported galbanum as stomachic tonic for colds and colic (HJP).

• Lebanese work resin into hot olive oil to dress wounds (HJP).

Extracts (Galbanum):

LD50 Sodium galbanate = 227 mg/kg ipr mus (HH3).

For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.

Isaiah 38:21 (KJV)

Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a cake of figs, and apply it to the boil, that he may recover."

Isaiah 38:21 (RSV)

And Isaiah proceeded to say, "Let them take a cake of pressed dried figs, and rub [it] upon the boil, that he may revive."

Isaiah 38:21 (NWT)

Do I poultice my boil with a lump of fresh figs, a cake of dried figs, or rub the boil with a cake of pressed dried figs? For myself, I would drip some of the milk from the stem on my boil if I had the plant handy, but I would try dried figs in a pinch. The leaves of the fig, first fruit recorded in the Bible, were used to cover Adam and Eve's nakedness. I do not know about Adam and Eve but, with me, the leaves cause violent itching in contact with my bare skin. Other members of the fig family, if not the fig itself, have been used to make bark cloth, which is much more comfortable. To sit under one's own vine and fig tree was the Jewish concept of peace and prosperity as indicated in I Kings 4:25. Fig leaves are still sewn together and used as wrappings for fresh fruit. To Egyptians, the fig represented the Tree of Life. Some suggest that the fig was the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. They believe that eating the dried fruits facilitates conception.

Let me once again quote from one of hundreds of letters I received back when I was with the USDA, leading their Medicinal Plants Laboratory. "I have just read your article about searching for plants that contain anticancer chemicals. For a long time I have believed that figs would be used in the treatment of cancer. My reason — in II Kings Chap. 20 in the King James Version of the Bible beginning with the 1st verse through 7. Please read it and see what you think. I do pray to God that something will come through soon." I read the scripture he suggested. "And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered." (II Kings 20:7). After reading that letter and scripture, I went to Jonathan Hartwell's Plants Used against Cancer; and there among more than three full pages of anticancer folklore, found that folklore suggested figs for many cancerous conditions (e.g., cancer of the gums and uterus; calluses; condylomata; corns; exacerbations; excrescences of the eyelids, vulva, or uterus; fibroids; impostumes; moles; myrmecia; neoplasms; polyps; scleroses of the cervix, kidney, limbs, liver, sinews, spleen, stomach, testicles, and uterus; thymi; tumors of the abdomen, bladder, fauces, feet, glands, liver, neck, parotid, uterus, and windpipe; warts; and wens (BIB).

Figs are eaten fresh or dried and threaded on long strings. "Cakes of Figs" are mentioned in I Samuel 25:18, and these were consumed for travel. North Africans make a tonic anise-flavored fig brandy (BIB; BOU); 30 g fig syrup (HH3).

Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit.

Then Amos answered Amazi'ah, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees.

Then Amos answered and said to Amazi'ah, "I was not a prophet, neither was I the son of a prophet; but I was a herdsman, and a nipper of figs of sycamore trees.

FIGURE 1.48 Sycamore Fig (Ficus sycomorus).

The sycamore fig that Zacchaeus allegedly climbed to see Jesus pass is a curious tree combining the characteristics of fig and mulberry. Its porous but durable wood was used for temples and auditoria, as well as for fashioning mummy chests or coffins (sarcophagi) found in perfect condition after more than 3000 years (BIB; FP1). Others say it is only fit for fuel. African Masai use twigs in fire making. The milky latex, like many other fig species, contains rubber-like compounds. In the Holy Land, it is frequently planted as a shade tree, the shade reported to have embraced the Virgin Mary. "At Mar-have is a large sycamore or Pharaoh's Fig, very old, but which bears fruit every year. They say that upon the Virgin passing that way with her son Jesus and being pursued by the people, this Fig tree opened to receive her and closed her in again, until the people had passed by and then opened again. The tree is still shown to travelers" (BIB). Zohary (FP1) notes that the plant is widely cultivated in the Holy Land (e.g., on the coastal plain and the Jordan Valley), but native to Ethiopia and elsewhere in tropical eastern Africa. Not setting viable seed, it is easily propagated by cuttings.

Produced in several crops per year, the yellowish fruit smells like an ordinary fig but is inferior in taste and sugar content. In olden times, fruits were much consumed by the poor, raw or cooked, and even sold in the markets. Some Africans consume with millet or ferment a beverage. Leaves also eaten in soups or in peanut dishes. Latex serves as a vegetable rennet (BIB; FAC; ZOH).

For complex reasons, the sycamore fig is completely dependent on man, who has saved it from extinction. Fertilization by wasps is necessary for ripening of the fruits, but no seeds are produced in the process, as the ovaries are turned into galls, which are inedible. Ancient Hebrews incised young fruits with a special knife, in a process called gashing (balos), mentioned in the RSV version of Amos 7:14, "I am a herdman, and a dresser of sycomore trees," but missed in the KJV. Cypriots and Egyptians use the same method. For some reason, the wasp-dependent variety in Israel was replaced by a par-thenocarpic variety, which has no need for the wasp in ripening its seedless fruits. This species bears fruits several times a year in the Holy Land (ZOH). Zohary refutes some scholars' speculation that the sycamore fig was introduced from Africa, perhaps by Natufian Man circa 10,000 years ago. Zohary thinks it is more likely a tertiary relic of an earlier coastal tropical flora (with Acacia albida, Ziziphus spina-christi) (ZOH). Fruits and leaves are fed to cows to increase the flow of milk, especially in arid areas (BIB). Most animals and birds eat the fruits; cattle and sheep browse the leaves (UPW).

Behold, we have sent you money to buy you burnt offerings, and sin offerings, and incense, and prepare ye manna.

Baruch 1:10

Manna, at least in this account of Fraxinus, refers to the exudate from the ash tree, not the ash tree itself, with many names and indications of its own. According to the Moldenkes, there are three distinct types of manna in the Bible, the more familiar first type secured by purchase and trade, consisting of the gummy exudates of Fraxinus ornus, Alhagi maurorum, or Tamarix mannifera. Danin (Econ. Bot. 26:373, 1972) adds to this list Acacia raddiana, Anabasis setifera, Astragalus echinus, Capparis cartitaginea, Capparis spinosa, Gomphocarpus sinaicus, Hammada salicornica, and Pyrethrum santolinoides as sources of manna (BIB). Some of these are treated elsewhere. Zohary explains that, etymologically, manna stems from man or man ha = "What is that?" And he too fails to answer the question authoritatively. He seems to favor the interpretation that manna was an exudate from scaly insects Trabulina mannifera or Najacoccus serpentina feeding on the tamarisk or, even more likely, the white hammada, Hammada salicornia, which is widespread in southern Sinai. They exude a sweet liquid that hardens and drops to the ground to be gathered by the Bedouins like honey or sugar. Yet another type grew up during the night when the ground was moist, but "withered away" and "stank" with the heat of the sun (Exodus 16). The Moldenkes suggest that this was Nostoc, a tiny blue-green algae that grows rapidly during the night. Soft and gelatinous, these algal growths "disappear as the sun evaporates the dew, only to reappear the next night if there is abundant dew." (Moldenke and Moldenke, 1952) A third type "fell from heaven" (Numbers 11). Botanists tend to suspect lichens of the genus Lecanora, which after periods of drought dry up, curl up, break loose from the ground, and are transported by the wind. Sheep relish these lichens and Bedouins make a bread therefrom. Circa 1889, a shower of such lichens fell into Iran during a great famine (BIB). Clearly, Fraxinus ornus does produce manna and there has been trade in that manna. Only Fraxinus syriaca is reported in the Flora of Palestine (FP3). So if the biblical manna was Fraxinus, it would have to have been from that Syrian species, or imported from outside. The Fraxinus manna can be secured either as flakes ("flake manna"), fragments ("common manna"), or a viscid mass ("fat manna"). A good ash tree can yield a pound or more per season. Annual production in Sicily, where manna was once produced commercially, was circa 750 tons. The first medicine mentioned in the Moldenke's book, manna is described as a gentle laxative, demulcent, and expec-

torant. In Grieve's A Modern Herbal, we read that manna was chiefly used as a children's laxative or to disguise other medicines. In 1906, Dr. Steinberg is said to have recommended dulcinol, a mixture of manna and common salt as a sweetening agent in diabetes. Duke and Wain list the following as uses: aperient, debility, laxative, purgative, restorative, and tonic (DAW). The leaves of the manna ash contain, in addition to aesculetin, cichoriin, ornol, and sedoheptulose, two marginal antitumor compounds: ursolic acid and rutin. Aesuletin and aesculin are anti-inflammatory. According to Uphof, manna from Fraxinus contains glucose, levulose, manneotetrose, mannite, manninotriose, and resin. Ash was recommended by Lebanese for diarrhea and malaria and the bark flakes for fever. Algerians powdered the seeds in olive oil and honey for gonorrhea (BIB).

No health hazards or contraindications reported with proper administration of suggested therapeutic dosages (PH2). Can cause flatulence in sensitive patients (KOM). Contraindicated in cases of bowel obstruction (KOM). Do not take laxatives long term without consulting a physician (KOM).

Natural History (Manna):

Manna is extruded from scaly insects feeding on various trees. Trabulina mannifera or Najacoccus serpentina feed on the tamarisk. They exude a sweet liquid that hardens and drops to the ground and can be gathered as a sweet stuff. Named for manna, mannitol, a sugar, is found in leaves of Fraxinus ornus L., F. angustifolia Vahl., Olea europaea L., and Phillyrea media L., all members of the olive family. In the two ash species, mannitol content gradually increases in spring, peaking in summer, followed by a gradual decrease (260-720 ^M/g ZMB). Rainfall seems negatively correlated with seasonal increase in mannitol content, reaching a maximum at the end of the dry season (X12197521).

And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace; Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.

And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the capital, both great and small, a banquet lasting for seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace. There were white cotton curtains and blue hangings caught up with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and precious stones.

And when these days had come to the full, the king held a banquet for seven days for all the people that were found in Shu'shan the castle, both the great as well as the small, in the courtyard of the garden of the king's palace. There were linen, fine cotton and blue held fast in ropes of fine fabric and wool dyed reddish purple in silver rings and pillars of marble, couches of gold and silver upon a pavement of porphyry and marble and pearl and black marble.

Somehow the KJV left out the cotton and that is precisely why it was not covered in my first book of the Bible. Mentioned only once in the Holy Scriptures, cotton was used to wrap Egyptian mummies. Zohary notes that it was not grown early in the land of Israel, but was cultivated in the last centuries B.c., perhaps under the name tzemer-gefen (vine wool) because its leaves resembled the grape. Plants cultivated as an annual for the fiber among the seeds that furnish Asiatic or Levant cotton.

• Annamese use flowers for amenorrhea and dysmenorrhea, the seed oil for herpes, scabies, and wounds (KAB).

• Asian Indians use the roots for urinary disorders (BUR).

• Ayurvedics view flowers as antibilious, antihallucinogenic, lactogogue, refrigerant, and tonic, using leaves for anemia, oliguria, and otosis; and view seed as aphrodisiac and lactogogue. They use the plant for snakebite, scorpion stings, skin ailments, and uterine discharges (KAB).

• Bambas of northern Rhodesia apply the leaves to warts (JLH).

• Brazilians use the root bark for uterine fibromas (JLH).

• French Guianans use seeds in fumigations for indolent tumors (JLH).

• Lebanese use roots for malaria and Malta fever; impotent men use decoction cautiously; women use as emmenagogue and lactagogue (HJP).

• Lebanese consider cottonseed oil the more stimulating of the oils (HJP).

• Senegalese Soce give root macerate to newborn, sick, or rachitic children to make them grow big and strong (UPW).

• South American females take root decoction as a contraceptive, the seed as a lactagogue or breast enlarger (BIB).

• Unani regard the seeds as aphrodisiac, expectorant, and laxative, using them for orchitis; they poultice the flowers on burns, scabies, and scalds, and use them in syrup for hypochondria, and insanity; the leaves they take internally for dysentery, externally for gout; flowers are also used as analgesic for burning eyes and inflammation (KAB).

Bezemer et al. (2004) found that in undamaged plants, terpenoid aldehydes were concentrated in the young immature main leaves. Aboveground feeding by Spodopterta exigua larvae on a mature leaf enhanced terpenoid (hemigossypolone, heliocides 1 and 4) concentrations in immature leaves but not in the damaged leaf. Root herbivory by wireworms (Agriotes lineatus) also resulted in increased terpenoid levels in foliage (X15074657).

Extracts (Levant Cotton):

The oilseed cake contains circa 4% glutamic acid. In its free state, L-glutamic acid is used to treat mental deficiencies in infants and adolescents. Gossypol shows antitumor activity in several NCI tumor systems. LD50 Gossypol = 20 mg/kg ipr mus (BIB). This species reportedly contains 3,500-18,100 ppm gossypol in the embryo, as in most cottons a mix of the (+) and (-) enantiomers. Some of this gets into cottonseed oils (X16076104). Talking about cotton in general, Stipanovic et al. (2005) state that in many ways the (+)-enantiomer is positive, from a health point of view and the (-)-enantiomer is negative from a food point of view, but positive for biological activities, including medicinal activities. For example, (-)-gossypol inhibits various cancer cells more effectively than the (+)-enantiomer. (-)-Gossypol is a more effective inhibitor of various enzymes than (+)-gossy-pol. (-)-Gossypol, but not (+)-gossypol, shows anti-HIV-1 activity in humans (9). (-)-Gossypol is effective against ameba. (-)-Gossypol, but not (+)-gossypol, has male antifertility activity and is more toxic to animals. Broiler chickens fed a diet containing 5% cottonseed [(+)- to (-)-gossypol ratio of 83:17] gained weight at the same rate as the 100% soybean control diet. Cumulative weight gains of the chickens decreased circa 126 g for each 100-mg increase in (-)-gossypol consumed, whereas the cumulative weight gains were not significantly altered with increased (+)-gossypol (X16076104).

gundelia (gundelia tournefortii l.) + asteraceae

Notes (Tournefort's Gundelia):

O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

Psalms 83:13 (KJV)

In the RSV, wheel is replaced by whirling dust. In Isaiah 17:13, Zohary's and the RSV's whirling dust reads more like "a rolling thing before the whirlwind" in the KJV. All seem appropriate for Gundelia, known to travelers as the "steppe monster." The thistle-like heads, often joined into a group, may roll before the wind in the empty desert steppes, rather like a tumbleweed, scattering its edible seed. This is the only species in the genus Gundelia, largest of 30 Holy Land species called tumbleweed (ZOH).

Middle Eastern peasants make a "delicious dish" from the young fleshy heads, rather like the related globe artichokes. The oil-rich ripe nuts are edible and tasty. Leaves, thick stems, undeveloped flower buds, and roots all eaten. Toasted seeds used as "kenger coffee." Sold in Lebanese and Syrian markets. Anatolians collect and dry the plants for winter fodder (FAC; ZOH).

• Lebanese suggest the latex for burning off warts, drying up sores, as an emetic, and snakebite cure (HJP).

Downsides (Gundelia):

Latex emetic.

Extracts (Gundelia):

Aburjai et al. (2001) screened methanolic extracts combined with seven different antibiotics to check the synergic activities against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, including a resistant strain. Gundelia tournefortii and Lepidium sativum inhibited the growth of the resistant strain. Chloramphenicol, gen-tamicin, and cephalosporin can be given with the plant material, to good advantage (X11378279).

english ivy (hedera helix l.) + araliaceae

Notes (English Ivy):

And in the day of the king's birth every month they were brought by bitter constraint to eat of the sacrifices; and when the fast of Bacchus was kept, the Jews were compelled to go in procession to Bacchus, carrying ivy.

II Maccabees 6:7

Zohary comments that ivy, now rare in upper Galilee and Samaria, may once have been more widely distributed. In earlier times, the leaves formed the poet's crown, as well as the wreath of Bacchus, to whom the plant was dedicated. Ivy was once bound around the brow to prevent intoxication. Hence, a garland of ivy was hung outside olden roadhouses to indicate that wine was sold therein. Greek priests presented a wreath of ivy to newly married persons, symbolizing fidelity. The leaf contains circa 10% saponin and has been used for washing wool. Leaves boiled with soda are said to be suitable for washing clothes. Young twigs are a source of yellow and brown dye. Hardwood can be used as a boxwood substitute in engraving. Extracts are found in French massage creams and soaps. Ivy leaves were once bruised, gently boiled in wine, and drunk to alleviate intoxication by wine. Flowers, decocted in wine, were used for dysentery. Plant said to have been used as an emetic and narcotic on at least three continents. Tender ivy twigs, boiled in butter, were a primitive approach to remove sunburn.